


scar tissue

by Margot_Lescargot



Series: scars [1]
Category: Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch
Genre: Angst, M/M, Prompt from another work, h/c, prompt from “time is broken”
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-19
Updated: 2019-11-19
Packaged: 2021-02-13 12:38:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21494431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Margot_Lescargot/pseuds/Margot_Lescargot
Summary: The scars were unsightly, and a grim reminder of the past, but they didn’t trouble him any more and it was rather the scars inside that disturbed his sleep, still, and caused the nightmares to resurface.
Relationships: Thomas Nightingale/Alexander Seawoll
Series: scars [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1853590
Comments: 19
Kudos: 43





	scar tissue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [utrinque_paratus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/utrinque_paratus/gifts).
  * Inspired by [time is broken](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21323383) by [utrinque_paratus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/utrinque_paratus/pseuds/utrinque_paratus). 

> utrinque-paratus, showed me a snippet of chapter 2 of her amazing work, which details Nightingale's wartime wounds, and so I wrote this for her - in the context of Seagale - which deals, in a minor way, with their possible after-effects.
> 
> Whilst prompted by work of a very different nature, and not written specifically to form part of the Burdens of Responsibility series, there is no reason why it can’t exist in the same universe.

Nightingale had no time for self-pity. The Nightingale definitely had not.

He had walked away from the war. Staggered and trudged were perhaps more appropriate, but he had left the battlefields and the horrors behind. In truth, the horrors remained with him, within him, but he had survived, and he could not, would not forget that there were thousands who had not been so lucky.

Since his return from the war, no one except his doctors had seen him fully disrobed. He’d heard Abdul’s sharp intake of breath the first time he’d examined Thomas, but – after a brief pause – he commenced the examination, asking questions in his usual professional and precise manner.

The scars were unsightly, and a grim reminder of the past, but they didn’t trouble him any more and it was rather the scars inside that disturbed his sleep, still, and caused the nightmares to resurface.

So the first time he took Alex properly to bed, to his bed, the thought of the scars he bore simply did not occur to him.

They stumbled into Thomas' bedroom, breathless and laughing, the movement jolting apart their kiss, which had begun at the top of the staircase and continued to the threshold. Thomas closed the door and their mouths met again, insistently.

Alex pulled Thomas’s shirt out of his waistband, and ran his hand underneath, and Thomas felt him freeze.

Alex pulled back from Thomas and, without saying anything, walked around him and lifted his shirt to reveal the patch of ruined flesh on his back. Still holding up the shirt, he moved around to the front and saw its equivalent, half hidden by Thomas’ trousers.

Thomas stood very still, and waited. Alex relinquished his hold on Thomas’s shirt and sat back heavily on the edge of the bed staring at him. His face was a mix of puzzlement and dismay. 

‘I know you were shot at Covent Garden, but that..’

‘The war,’ said Thomas.

‘Oh. But what could-? No, never mind.’

Alex stared at Thomas for a beat longer then stood and wrapped his arms around him, pulling Thomas as close to him as he possibly could, and holding him very, very tightly.

‘I can’t even begin-’ he said. ‘I am so sorry.’

Thomas allowed himself to be held, and as they continued to stand there, and Alex showed no sign of releasing him, Thomas felt some small, hard knot inside himself, which he hadn’t even known was present, melt away. The horrors would never go away, it was not in their nature to do so. But here also, now, was this warmth, this strength, this man.


End file.
